English Newspaper is the most popular choice amongst the corporates and college students. Topmost English Dailies are a question of interest for the Newspaper readers. Ranking for the 10 best English news papers in India is done through the Indian Readership survey.

The ranking for the 10 best English Newspaper in India has changed from time to time. While some Newspapers like Times of India and Hindustan Times have always been in the list of Topmost English Dailies.

News Paper reading has always been of great interest to Indian public. It is estimated that close to 39 percent of the people (above 12) in India read newspapers, be it Hindi, English or a regional newspaper.

There is a huge population who like going through the print media, the recent years have seen a growth of close to 40% in newspaper readership as per Indian Readership Survey. There is a further growth of approx. 7% expected in the readership of newspapers in India till 2021.

There has been a huge growth in the print media readership and similar growth has been seen in the English Newspaper readership as well, currently at approx. 3% which is slightly lower compared to Hindi and the regional newspapers.

Best English Newspapers with respect to readership varies slightly with respect to the regions.

Following are the Top 10 English Newspapers in India

Times of India

Times of India is by far the best English newspaper in India based on the number of readers. The paper is reaching out to close to 3 million people across India. Times of India newspaper is published by Mumbai based media house, Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd.

The newspaper started way back in 1838 with the name of “The Bombay Times” in Mumbai. It is one of the oldest existing newspapers in India.

Times of India has been in the list of Topmost English Dailies because of its adaptability to changing times and being available in different formats ranging from tabloids, compacts, Berliners, broadsheets and the online version.

The fact is Times of India is regarded as the highest circulated newspaper across the world.

Hindustan Times

Hindustan Times popularly known as HT is another newspaper which has frequently made to the list of top 10 English newspapers in India. The newspaper is regarded as one of the oldest newspaper still in operations. The newspaper has its going back to pre-independence era and was started in 1924.

Hindustan Times is owned by HT media and has been circulating more than a million copies every day. Hindustan Times other publications to its name like Mint, Hindustan, Nandan and Kadambani to its portfolio.

Hindustan Times initially started publishing from New Delhi and has now spread the operations to various parts of India like Mumbai, Patna, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Ranchi and Kolkata. It has been the most popular newspaper published from North India.

The Hindu

The Hindu is regarded as one of the oldest existing newspapers in India. The newspaper started its publications in 1878.

They have been the pioneer of change; the newspaper was the first to introduce coloured printing in the year 1940 and was also the first to start the online newspaper in 1995.

As per Indian Readership Survey, The Hindu is the 3rd most widely read English Newspapers in India making it to the list of top English newspapers in India. The newspaper is quite popular in southern India especially Tamil Nadu.

Initially, the newspaper started publications from Chennai but now the newspaper has spread its wings and is now publishing from 14 different locations which include Chennai, Bangalore, Madurai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hubli, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirappalli, Vijayawada and Vishakhapatnam.

The Telegraph

The Telegraph is a popular Indian Newspaper in English especially in the eastern states. The newspaper started its publications way back in 1982 from Kolkata. The telegraph newspaper is owned by Ananda bazar Patrika limited, Kolkata.

The Telegraph has seen a sharp growth in the readership and is regarded as one of the fastest growing English dailies. The newspaper has expanded its operations and is now published from Guwahati, Siliguri, Jamshedpur and Ranchi city.

The newspaper also introduced a new 16-page colored sections called T2, this section covers Entertainment and lifestyle.

Deccan Chronicle

Deccan Chronicle is an Indian newspaper in English. The English daily is published from Hyderabad and is owned by the Deccan Chronicle Holdings limited. The name of the newspaper came from the place of its origination which is Deccan.

Some of the other sister concerns of Deccan Chronicle are “TV guide”, “Sunday Chronicle”, “Chennai Chronicle” and “Bengaluru Chronicle”.

This English daily started its operations in 1938 in Andhra Pradesh as a partnership concern and has now expanded its operations to various cities of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala including Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Rajahmundry, Visakhapatnam, Anantapur, Karimnagar and Nellore city in Andhra Pradesh, Chennai and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, Bengaluru in Karnataka and Trivandrum and Kochi in Kerala State.

The newspaper has a readership of more than 1 million mainly concentrated in southern area.

Indian Express

Indian Express is also one of the oldest English newspapers published in India. This newspaper is published since the pre-independence times; the newspaper started its operations in 1932.

The newspaper has its operations in Mumbai. Few years back, the newspaper was vying for the top spot in readership but off lately the newspaper has scaled down its operations.

Recently, the name of the newspaper has changed to the “New Indian Express”. The English daily is now published now from 22 cities in India mainly from southern India. The newspaper has the most sales in Kerala.

The Indian Express is the first newspaper to give insurance benefits to its readers.

The Statesman

The Statesman is one of the oldest existing newspapers in India. The English newspaper daily has its headquarters in Kolkata and was first published in the year 1875.

Statesman has been widely acknowledged as one of the most prestigious newspaper and is also the member of Asian News Network (ANN), a group of reputed newspapers across Asia.

The Statesman newspaper is unique for its writing style which is more suitable for the serious readers who don’t like frilling around and like news written in a concise manner.

This English newspaper which initially started its publications from Kolkata is now being published from Delhi, Bhuvaneshwar and Siliguri.

The newspaper sells around 2 lack copies daily. Because of its concise writing style, the newspaper is also quoted by the foreign media as a preferred choice.

Deccan Herald

Deccan Herald is another top English daily of India. The newspaper started its publications in Bangalore; the first issue of the newspaper came in 1948, soon after the independence.

The newspaper has around half a million readers across India, though the majority of the readers are from southern India.

Deccan Herald has expanded to various locations within Karnataka; currently it is operating from its 11 locations within Karnataka. In 2011, the newspaper expanded and opened its first office outside Karnataka in Delhi.

The newspaper is often compared with the Hindu due to its writing style.

The Asian Age

The Asian Age is amongst the top most English Newspapers of India. Asian Age was started in the year 1994 from Mumbai. The Asian Age is the only Indian English Newspaper to have an international edition to its name.

Recently, the newspaper has been bought by the Deccan group of Hyderabad. The newspaper has expanded its operations to other places like New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.

The newspaper claims to have a readership of more than 1 million across the globe. Asian age also has collaboration with many English dailies of the world and also with the New York Times.

The Economic Times

The Economic Times another subsidiary of Times group and is the most read financial newspapers amongst the corporates and students. The newspaper is published by Bennett, Coleman and company.

The history of Economic times goes back to 1961; the newspaper currently has a readership of more than 8 lakh people across India. ‘Economic times’ is characterized by Salmon pink paper which is being used since the start.

The group also started a news channel in 2009 catering to the financial news, named “ET now”.

The head office of Economic Times is located in Mumbai while there are 10 other subsidiary offices located across different locations of India which includes Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Chandigarh and Pune.

Wrapping up

There is a huge competition amongst the English newspapers published in India. Some are also being acknowledged worldwide because of their writing styles and concise nature.

However, if we talk about the Indian context, there is only one English newspaper that ranks in the list of top 20 newspapers in the country. The list is dominated by Hindi and regional newspapers.

Some claim the online accessibility of newspapers on mobile apps as the major reason for the dip in English newspapers readership. Whatever the reason, the importance of the English newspapers in India cannot be ignored.